ERRATA – GURPS Aliens – Updated June 9, 2002

P. 10. Some of the races in this book use advantages given in GURPS Compendium I and other sources, though many of them are not described in GURPS Aliens. If a racial description gives an unfamiliar advantage, see GURPS Compendium I, GURPS Supers, et al. Exception: the Ultrasonic Speech advantage was omitted entirely; see below.

The first edition of GURPS Supers used a different system for marking enhancements and limitations. A +/-1 level in that system equated to a +/-10% in all the revised versions, +/-2 levels is now +/-20%, etc. All instances of first edition Supers notation have been replaced in this errata list.

Under Racial Skill Bonus, change the cost to half the cost to learn the skill at the specified levels.

Amphibious costs 10 points. It no longer includes Gills.

Pp. 10-11.Body of Gas and Body of Water should be moved to the Disadvantages section.

P. 11.

Body of Stone costs 8 points/level. However, this assumes the character can switch to and from Body of Stone at will. Races with this advantage would normally apply the Unswitchable limitation (-25%) for a cost of 6 points/level.

Broadcast is 3 points/level.

Catfall costs 10 points.

Chameleon costs 7 points/level. Clothing reduces the bonus to +1 per level when motionless, with no bonus if moving, unless the clothing is camouflaged relative to the current background.

Claws cost 15/25/40/55 points.

Clinging costs 25 points.

Cultural Adaptability gives +1 to all Social skills.

DR costs 3/2/1.5/1 points per level, respectively.

P. 12.

Doesn't Breathe costs 20 points.

Doesn't Eat or Drink costs 10 points.

Doesn't Sleep costs 20 points.

P. 13. Add this advantage:

Enhanced Strength / variable. The cost for Enhanced Strength is 60 for ST 15, plus 10 per point of ST from 16-23, then 5 per point of ST from 24-30, then ½ per point of ST from 31+. Special Limitation: Natural. The extra ST bought does not supply extra fatigue, apply to jumping, or affect skills. (-40%). Special Limitation: The race has No Fine Manipulators (-40%).

P. 13.

Extended Lifespan costs 5 points/level.

Extra Fatigue costs 3 points/level.

Extra Hit Points cost 5 points/level.

Gills cost 10 points. Replace the text with "Members of the race have the ability to extract oxygen from the water. This allows them to remain submerged indefinitely in normal water. If there is no oxygen to extract, they will still suffocate. The race can still breathe normally out of the water. There is no cost for a gilled race which cannot breathe air."

Gliding's special enhancement for riding thermals costs +10%.

P. 13. Add this advantage:

Flexibility / 15 points. Members of this race can bend their bodies in absolutely any direction. This advantage is like Double-Jointed (p. B20), only more so; a race cannot possess both Flexibility and Double-Jointed. Individuals get a +5 on any Climbing, Escape or Mechanic roll. Individuals cannot stretch or squeeze themselves abnormally, but any part of their body may bend this way.

P. 13. Under Healing, delete the listed special limitation. Add this text:

"It is assumed that this power works on the user's own race and on all "similar" races. Special Limitation: Works on the user's own race only. -20%. This isn't available where there is only one intelligent race. Special Enhancement: Xenohealing. The user can heal creatures quite dissimilar to himself. Examples: All Life Native to One Planet (+40%), All Carbon-Based Life (+60%), Anything Alive (+80%).

P. 14.

Immortality costs 140 points.

Immunity to Poison costs 15 points.

Delete Increased Strength.

Insubstantiability's special enhancement costs +100%.

Manual Dexterity costs 3 points/level.

Under Manual Dexterity, change "DX," to "DX, or IQ in some cases,".

P. 15.

Nictating Membrane costs 10 points/level.

Perfect Balance costs 15 points.

Pressure Support costs 5 points for up to 10 times normal pressure, 10 points for 100 times, and 15 points for pressure immunity.

Radio Hearing costs 10 points.

P. 16.

See Invisible costs 15 points.

Sensitive Touch costs 10 points.

Stretching costs 30 points for the first level, +15 points for each additional level. It includes the Flexibility advantage (see above).

360-Degree Vision has the available Special Limitation of Eyestalks (-20%). Eyestalks normally cannot be armored and may be targetted by any swung cutting weapon at -6. Damage over HT/3 cripples the eyestalk; on a failed HT roll, the eyestalk is severed.

P. 17.

Unaging costs 15 points.

Ultrasonic Hearing costs 5 points.

Vacuum Support costs 40 points.

Venom's enhancement Skin Agent is +70%. Ranged venom is +35%.

Walk on Liquid is 15 points.

P. 17.Add the advantage of Ultrasonic Speech (25 points): This includes the Ultrasonic Hearing advantage. The race can converse in the ultrasonic range. Note that many terrestrial animals find it intensely annoying, or even painful, to be within earshot of sustained ultrasonic pitches. There is no cost if Ultrasonic Speech is the race's only form of communication.

P. 18.

Cool's special enhancement Switchable costs +10%.

Deafen costs 15 points.

Lightning Missile is Ranged, DX, 20.

Sensitive Touch costs 10 points.

Sonic Blast costs 20 points. Damage is 1d.

Warm has a maximum of 10 degrees. Switchable costs +10%.

P. 19.One Fine Manipulator is worth -15 points.

P. 20.Slow Metabolism is -60 points/level.

Pp. 21-23. Limb costs have been modified for better game balance.

Extra arms have a base cost of only 10 points each.

Shorter-than-normal arms cost only 5 points per additional arm. If all a race's arms are short, it has -2 on any attempt to grapple. If a race has only two arms, both of which are short, this is a -10-point disadvantage.

No Physical Attack: An arm that cannot make a physical attack costs only 5 points, or only 2 points if it is also short.

Feet Manipulators: If a leg can be used to manipulate, treat it as a short Extra Arm (5 points) with Nuisance Effect: Temporary Disadvantage (Legless while using Extra Arms, -35%), for 4 points. This means that if a person with feet manipulators is using his feet as arms, he can't walk or run; he can sit still, float (in space or liquid) or fly, of course.

Strikers: If a limb can strike an aimed blow (rolling vs. DX) but cannot manipulate or be used for walking (a tail, for example), it is a "striker." Strikers cost 5 points apiece. Unmodified strikers do thrust/crushing damage, in close combat only (e.g. horns). Increased range costs 5 points per striker per hex.

To increase the damage done by a striker, arm, or leg, the Claws advantage may be added. This may also represent fangs, pincers, horns, etc. For +15 points, the claws do an extra +2 damage: punch+2 for arms, kick+2 for legs, and thrust+2 for strikers. For +25 points, sharp claws convert a kick or punch's crushing damage to cutting damage. For +40 points, talons let the limb do both swing/cutting and thrust/impaling damage. For +55 points, long talons do swing+2/cutting or thrust+2/impaling. Note that this advantage only has to be purchased once - no matter how many limbs it modifies! If a race has eight arms, 15 points will buy +2 damage for all the arms (of course, Full Coordination is needed to attack with more than one).

Some strikers (e.g., tails) cannot be aimed well. If a striker attacks at a penalty to DX, subtract a point from its cost for every -1 to DX.

P. 26. Two extra hit points cost 10 points. It costs 3 points to be a Phar. The sample character on p. 29 has a point total of 94.

P. 32. The Irari's Extended Lifespan costs them only 5 points, so racial cost is only 10 points.

P. 35. To keep the sample character at 100 points, increase ST to 11 and HT to 10.

P. 47. The sample character has Administration-15, Bard-19, Diplomacy-14, Fast-Talk-16, Leadership-15, and Savoir-Faire-17 from the bonus for Cultural Adaptability. His point total is 197.

Pp. 48, 51.Gerodians: Eidetic Memory reduces the cost of the Psychology skill at IQ to 2 points. Change the racial skill bonus to +2 in Savoir-Faire. It costs 8 points to be a Gerodian. The sample character has a point total of 98 points.

P. 52. Banduch have ST 24 (No Fine Manipulators on all, Natural on 13+) for 44 points. DX -3 is -20 points. Amphibious is 10 points. Nictating Membrane is 10 points. Add Inconvenient Size (-10). It costs 73 points to be a Banduch. The sample character on p. 54 has a point total of 229.

P. 54.Roy of the Banduch, the sample character in the sidebar, has a point total of 229.

P. 60. The Memer's DR 2 is 6 points, Vacuum Support is 40, Short Lifespan is -10. It costs -9 points to play a Memer. The sample character on p. 63 has a point total of 141.

P. 64. The Kaa's Extra Hit Point is 5 points, DR 2 is 6, +1 Strategy is 2, +1 Interrogation is 1. It costs 30 points to play a Kaa. The sample character on p. 67 has a point total of 140.

P. 68. Kronin have Telesend at IQ+2, costing 8 points. It costs 39 points to play a Kronin. This alters the point total of the sample character in the sidebar on p. 71.

P. 71.Lieutenant Aram Sergo yiDarran, the sample character in the sidebar, has a point total of 104.

P. 73. The Markann's -2 HT is worth -15 points. Compute their arm cost as follows: two extra normal arms (20 points), giving them a +4 to grapple, and two arms which cannot attack (10 points) but which have extra Manual Dexterity (3 points). This makes the Markann racial cost 43 points. Reduce the cost of the sample character on p 74 to 113 points.

P. 76. The Verms have Secret (not Private) Communication and Sonic Blast (not Sonics). Three Extra Hit Points are 15. DR 2 is 6. Early Maturation 3 is 15. Sonic Blast 2 is 40 points. Short Lifespan is -10. Delete Cutting Strikers. It costs 212 points to be a Verm. Most Verms are built on 200 to 250 points. The character on p. 79 has a point total of 287.

Pp. 80, 83.Gormelites: DR 1 costs 3 points. Axe/Mace at DX is 2 points. It costs 19 points to play a Gormelite. The sample character is 109 points.

Pp. 84, 86.Sparrials: Delete Temperature Tolerance. Short Life Span is -10 points. Detect Lies has the -20% limitation Scent-Based, for a cost of 8 points. Replace Jumping at DX +2 (4 points) with one level of Super Jump (10 points). It costs 8 points to play a Sparrial. The sample character's point total is 108.

Pp. 92-93. The Treefolk's Extended Lifespan costs them only 5 points (saves 20 points). 360-Degree Vision (Eyestalks) is 20 points. Compute their arm cost as follows: Eight arms, four of which perform as normal human arms (2 extra arms, 10 points each). The other four are short and cannot attack (2 points each, total cost 8). Final cost for arms is 28. The two extra "normal" arms give a +4 to grapple. Delete the disadvantage Limbs Cannot Strike.

Final racial cost becomes 65 points. The sample character on p. 95 has a point total of 185.

P. 96. The reduced cost for arms cuts the Purulu racial cost drastically. They have 8 extra arms, which cannot strike (5 points each, total of 40 points), and their two "basic" arms also cannot strike (-5 points each). The fact that the arms can function as legs doesn't affect point value. This reduces the cost for arms to 30 points. Change the racial wealth level to Filthy Rich. They have racial skill bonuses of Accounting +3 (4), Economics +2 (3), Intelligence Analysis +1 (2), Law +1 (2), and Merchant +1 (1), making the Purulu racial cost -63 points.

The text and the template for the Purulu disagree over the exact wealth level. GMs can assign as high a level of Multimillionaire as their campaigns can tolerate to remedy this. Three levels would make their starting wealth 1.5 billion dollars, and would raise their template cost to 12 points.

P. 99. Make the sample character Social Status 4 and give him Danger Sense and Immunity to Disease. He is now a 65-point character. He is suitable for use as an NPC encounter.

P. 100. The Traders' Dark Vision is 25 points, Doesn't Breathe is 20, +1 to Freight Handling is 1. It costs 19 points to play a Trader. The point total of the sample character on p. 103 is 84.

P. 108. The Engai's Unaging is 15 points, Polarized Vision is 5, Walk on Liquid is 15, +1 to Bard skill is 1. It costs 239 points to be an Engai. The sample character on p. 110 has a point total of 339.

P. 116.Liook Sujan's Doesn't Eat is 10, Vacuum Support is 40, and Slow Metabolism is -60 points per level (-120 points for two levels). It costs 475 points to play a Liook Sujan.

P. 122.Crystal Computers' Extended Lifespan is 5. Replace the Delusion with an Obsession. Eidetic Memory reduces the costs of the racially learned skills: Astrogation at IQ (1 point), Astronomy at IQ (2 points), Computer Programming at IQ+5 (4 points), Mathematics at IQ+3 (2 points), Physics at IQ (2 points) and Research at IQ (1 point). It costs -32 points to play a Computer.

P. 124. Gloworms' Chameleon 3 is 21 points, Early Maturation is 5, Stretching is 30, Short Lifespan 2 is -20. It costs 46 points to play a Gloworm.

P. 126. Xenomorphs' Chameleon is 7 points, Stretching is 30. It costs 37 points to be a Xenomorph.